Car hire firm shares plummet £12m after ex-worker spreads malicious email under Bond-villain name

Helphire, which provides replacement vehicles for drivers involved in accidents which were not their fault, is taking legal action and has offered a £2,000 reward for the identity of its author, believed to be a disgruntled former employee.

The message - sent to 700 key clients and business partners - made unfounded claims about the company's working practices and staff.

Disguise: The ex-worker is suspected of using the name of Bond villain Peter Franks in Diamonds are Forever

It was sent under the name Peter Franks, believed to be a reference to a villain in the classic Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.

The firm's stock market value dropped by nearly £12million in a day after news of the email spread, and while there is no evidence that it fell because of the claims, bosses have been trying to establish who wrote it.

It was sent from an account which was deleted moments later, underlining the ease with which anyone with an axe to grind can cause havoc with a well-placed and well-circulated set of claims.

However Helphire is now taking court action to force Google, whose email service was used, to hand over the author's details.

Libel: Helphire now want google to identify who sent out the malicious email

If traced, he or she could be sued for libel or even prosecuted for causing malicious commercial damage.

The apparent sabotage attempt, which took place last month, caps a miserable year for the Bath-based firm, which has 1,200 employees.

Its business model of providing replacement cars or business vehicles for clients involved in an accident and then sending the bill to the guilty party's insurer initially led to rapid growth.

But a doubling of its fleet to 20,000 vehicles coupled with problems securing payment saw debt soar to more than £340million.

In July, the chief executive stepped down and Helphire announced it was trying to raise £45million through a rights issue.

As a result of its problems, its stock market value was already tumbling, down from more that £4 a share less than a year ago to as low as 95.5p last month.

While it steadied after Helphire refuted the claims in the email, it fell 8.75 per cent to 90p on Tuesday after further publicity, wiping £12million from the firm's total value.

However the stock market dropped generally on that day and the company insists the email is not to blame.

The company, which sponsors Bath rugby club, launched a hunt for the author as soon as the email emerged and offered a £2,000 reward to anyone who can identify them.

A spokesman said: 'Shares rise and fall on a daily basis, and there is not, as yet, any firm evidence that Helphire's share price fell as a result of this email being sent.'

The character of Peter Franks, a diamond smuggler, featured in the classic 1971 movie starring Sean Connery as 007.

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